Kathlyn Hilliard
{{short description|Scottish singer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kathlyn Hilliard
| image = KathlynHilliard1922.png
| alt = A smiling white woman, standing on stage, wearing an 18th century-style costume, a wide pink dress with a white apron and cap
| caption = Kathlyn Hilliard in costume as Polly Peachum in The Beggar's Opera (1922)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 17 April 1892
| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland
| death_date = {{d-da|7 October 1933|17 April 1892}}
| death_place = Worthing, Sussex, England
| other_names = Kathlyn Hill Baker
| occupation = Singer, actress
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) = George Baker
| relatives =
}}
Kathlyn Hilliard (17 April 1892 – 7 October 1933) was a Scottish singer and actress. She was principal soprano with the British National Opera Company (BNOC) from 1925 to 1928.
Early life and education
Career
Hilliard appeared on the London stage in musical comedies, revues, and operas, including The Beggar's Opera (1922, 1925),[https://books.google.com/books?id=pYE4AQAAMAAJ&dq=Kathlyn%20Hilliard%20opera&pg=RA2-PA427 "'The Turtle-Dove With Plaintive Crying'"] The Sketch 117(March 15, 1922): 427. The Way of the World (1924), The Street Singer (1924), Riverside Nights (1926),{{Cite journal |last=Chatterton |first=Julia |date=September 11, 1926 |title=Music, Song and Dance: Riverside Nights |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GALj6GQuapYC&dq=Kathlyn%20Hilliard%20opera&pg=PA79 |journal=The Musical Standard |volume=28 |pages=79}} Parsifal (1927), Götterdämmerung (1927), The Pride of the Regiment (1932) and The Dubarry (1933).{{Cite book |last=Wearing |first=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vFEAwAAQBAJ&dq=Kathlyn+Hilliard+opera&pg=PA515 |title=The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel |date=2014-03-27 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-9302-3 |pages=34, 274, 309, 374, 431, 514–515 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Wearing |first=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2mYAwAAQBAJ&dq=Kathlyn+Hilliard&pg=PA221 |title=The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel |date=2014-05-15 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-9304-7 |pages=199, 221 |language=en}} She toured in Australia in 1922 and 1923.{{Cite news |date=1933-10-09 |title=Mss Kathlyn Hilliard. |work=Courier-Mail |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1128293 |access-date=2023-09-11|via=Trove}}{{Cite news |date=1922-12-10 |title=Kathlyn Hilliard Replaces Edith Drayson |pages=13 |work=The Sunday Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-times-kathlyn-hilliard-replac/131614758/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was principal soprano with the British National Opera Company from 1925 to 1928. Her appearances with the BNOC included parts in Coffee Cantata (1925), Pagliacci (1926), Hansel and Gretel (1926),{{Cite journal |date=December 25, 1926 |title=B.N.O.C. London Season |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U4bGdYcBImoC&dq=Kathlyn+Hilliard+opera&pg=PA566 |journal=Musical News and Herald |volume=71 |pages=566}} Romeo and Juliet (1926), The Tales of Hoffmann (1926), The Marriage of Figaro (1926, 1927), La bohème (1926, 1927), Carmen (1927), Faust (1928),{{Cite web |title=Kathlyn Hilliard {{!}} Opera Scotland |url=http://operascotland.org/person/2991/Kathlyn-Hilliard |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=Opera Scotland}} and La Vie Parisienne (1929).{{Cite news |date=1929-12-20 |title=Pantomime and Vaudeville Fare for Holiday Week |pages=14 |work=Liverpool Echo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/liverpool-echo-pantomime-and-vaudeville/131615579/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1930 she was in a production of Lilac Time in Cardiff and Liverpool.{{Cite news |date=1930-09-06 |title=Next Week's Amusements in Cardiff: Schubert's Delightful Music |pages=9 |work=Western Mail |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/western-mail-next-weeks-amusements-in-c/131616051/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} She fell ill while performing in a 1932 production of Noël Coward's Bitter Sweet in Liverpool.{{Cite news |last=Harlow |first=E. L. |date=1932-01-19 |title=Actress Who Took Her Chance; Part Learned in the Wings |pages=1 |work=Evening Express |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-express-actress-who-took-her-cha/131616553/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Hilliard made several recordings.{{Cite web |title=Kathlyn Hilliard |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/6963622-Kathlyn-Hilliard |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=Discogs |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Laird |first=Ross |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qE7EEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kathlyn+Hilliard&pg=PA265 |title=Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920-1933 |date=1996-11-25 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-37005-2 |pages=265 |language=en}} In 1926 she was a soloist at the Crystal Palace, for a concert of Handel opera choruses arranged by Sir Henry Wood.{{Cite journal |last=Chatterton |first=Julia |date=December 18, 1926 |title=The Crystal Palace Choral and Orchestral Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GALj6GQuapYC&dq=Kathlyn+Hilliard+opera&pg=PA201 |journal=The Musical Standard |volume=28 |pages=201}} She appeared in two short silent films, Lily of Killarney (1927) and Maritana (1927).{{Cite book |last=Gifford |first=Denis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gHt0DwAAQBAJ&dq=Kathlyn+Hilliard+opera&pg=PT1720 |title=The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film |date=2018-10-24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-83701-5 |language=en}} In 1932 she sang at the opening of a housing and furniture exhibition at Alsager,{{Cite news |date=1932-03-30 |title=Furnishing Exhibition at Alsager |pages=6 |work=Evening Sentinel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-sentinel-furnishing-exhibition-a/131614556/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} and sang on radio broadcasts.{{Cite news |date=1932-11-29 |title=Variety by Scottish Artists |pages=20 |work=Daily Mirror |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-mirror-variety-by-scottish-artists/131615272/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Hilliard married baritone George Baker in 1924.{{Cite news |date=1928-12-18 |title=Polly and Macheath |pages=6 |work=Liverpool Echo |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/liverpool-echo-polly-and-macheath/131615665/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} They had a son, George Alan Hill Baker, born in 1925,{{Cite journal |date=April 1927 |title=George Baker (Baritone Vocalist) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-A5AAAAIAAJ&dq=Kathlyn%20Hilliard%20opera&pg=RA4-PA478 |journal=The Gramophone |volume=4 |pages=478}} who died during the Second World War.[https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2430729/george-alan-hill-baker "Second Lieutenant George Alan Hill Baker"], Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accessed 11 September 2023 They owned a villa in Algiers in the 1920s.{{Cite news |date=1922-08-02 |title=Algerian Villa, Actress's Retreat, Miss Kathlyn Hilliard |pages=7 |work=The Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-algerian-villa-actresss-retrea/131616301/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} She died in 1933, at the age of 41, in Worthing, Sussex.{{Cite news |date=1933-10-12 |title=Music and Musicians: Public Rehearsals |pages=4 |work=Liverpool Daily Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/liverpool-post-and-mercury-music-and-mus/131616741/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her collapse and early death were linked to "the Dubarry Jinx", as a series of actresses died or suffered other setbacks after appearing in that show, including her predecessor in the show, Anny Ahlers.{{Cite news |date=1934-01-21 |title=3 More Actresses Victims of the 'DuBarry Jinx' |pages=93 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-3-more-actres/131614936/ |access-date=2023-09-11}}{{Cite news |date=1933-10-09 |title=Miss Kathlyn Hilliard |pages=14 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-miss-kathlyn-hilliard/131615924/ |access-date=2023-09-11}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1708841}}
- [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp61887/kathlyn-hilliard-kate-hill-baker-nee-miller Kathlyn Hilliard portraits by Bassano Ltd], in the National Portrait Gallery
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qWqt_WaPEw A recording of Kathlyn Hilliard and George Baker singing together in 1924], on YouTube
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilliard, Kathlyn}}